Piper PA-12 N7510H

Summary

On 18 July 2011 at about 15:46 local time, a Piper PA-12 registered N7510H, operated by Van Wagner Aerial Media LLC, was involved in an accident near Joshua Tree, California, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 July 2011 at 15:46

Classification

Accident

Location

Joshua Tree, California, United States

Coordinates

34.0444, -116.3022

Aircraft

Piper PA-12

Registration

N7510H

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Van Wagner Aerial Media LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lake Havasu → Compton

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR11FA334

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's decision to conduct low altitude flight at a high density altitude and into a box canyon, which resulted in the airplane colliding with rising terrain when its climb capability was exceeded.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, during the cross-country repositioning flight over mountainous desert terrain, the airplane impacted the terrain, nosed over to the inverted position, and caught fire. He recalled that the engine was generating power at impact, but he could not recall any details of the flight before the impact. Data recovered from a handheld global positioning system (GPS) device indicated that, during the flight, the pilot was flying at altitudes ranging from about 100 to 1,000 feet above ground level (agl). The last position recorded by the GPS device showed the airplane about 1 nautical mile from the accident site at an altitude of about 4,100 feet mean sea level (msl), which was about 100 feet agl. The accident site was at 4,600 feet msl near the top of a ridgeline at the head of a box canyon. Postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical failure or malfunction that would have prevented normal operation. The calculated density altitude at the accident site at the time of the accident was about 7,300 feet. It is likely that the pilot flew the airplane into the box canyon, and, given the high density altitude, the airplane did not have the climb capability to clear the rising terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.